Μελεδωνός
caretaker
Translated by Ronald Allen26 Mar 2008Vetting: high7 revisions
Translation
[Meaning a] mentor, overseer.1
Aelian [writes]: "he designated his own brother the guardian of his son and caretaker of the money [which he left to his son]. But he [sc. the brother], being impious, was striving to usurp the son's property."2
And Eunapius [writes]: "having attired some woman of the same customs in a white dress and garlands as being the caretaker of Syria's so-called goddess."3 That is, a priestess.4
And Aelian [writes]: "[sc. this is the man] who was Nero's freedman, having been left behind as the caretaker and overseer of affairs in Rome, when Nero set out to Achaia."5
Aelian [writes]: "he designated his own brother the guardian of his son and caretaker of the money [which he left to his son]. But he [sc. the brother], being impious, was striving to usurp the son's property."2
And Eunapius [writes]: "having attired some woman of the same customs in a white dress and garlands as being the caretaker of Syria's so-called goddess."3 That is, a priestess.4
And Aelian [writes]: "[sc. this is the man] who was Nero's freedman, having been left behind as the caretaker and overseer of affairs in Rome, when Nero set out to Achaia."5
Greek original · Adler’s text
Μελεδωνός· φροντιστής, ἐπιμελητής. Αἰλιανός· ὁ δὲ τὸν ἴδιον ἀδελφὸν κατέλιπε τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐπίτροπον καὶ τῶν χρημάτων μελεδωνόν. ὁ δὲ ἀνόσιος ὢν τὰ τοῦ παιδὸς σφετερίσασθαι ἐγλίχετο. καὶ Εὐνάπιος· τῶν αὐτῶν ἐθῶν γυναῖκά τινα στείλας ἐσθῆτι λευκῇ καὶ στέμμασιν, ὡς δὴ μελεδωνὸν οὖσαν τῆς Συρίας οὕτω δὴ καλουμένης θεοῦ. τουτέστιν ἱέρειαν. καὶ Αἰλιανός· ὃς ἦν Νέρωνος ἀπελεύθερος, ἀπολειφθεὶς μελεδωνὸς τῶν ἐν Ῥώμῃ καὶ ἔφορος, ὅτε Νέρων ἐς Ἀχαΐαν ἐξωρμήθη.
Betacode
*meledwno/s: frontisth/s, e)pimelhth/s. *ai)liano/s: o( de\ to\n i)/dion a)delfo\n kate/lipe tou= ui(ou= e)pi/tropon kai\ tw=n xrhma/twn meledwno/n. o( de\ a)no/sios w)\n ta\ tou= paido\s sfeteri/sasqai e)gli/xeto. kai\ *eu)na/pios: tw=n au)tw=n e)qw=n gunai=ka/ tina stei/las e)sqh=ti leukh=| kai\ ste/mmasin, w(s dh\ meledwno\n ou)=san th=s *suri/as ou(/tw dh\ kaloume/nhs qeou=. toute/stin i(e/reian. kai\ *ai)liano/s: o(\s h)=n *ne/rwnos a)peleu/qeros, a)poleifqei\s meledwno\s tw=n e)n *(rw/mh| kai\ e)/foros, o(/te *ne/rwn e)s *)axai/+an e)cwrmh/qh.
Notes (5)
- The headword is the nominative singular form of the noun. Of the three quotations that follow only the last presents the word in this form; in the other two cases the word appears in the accusative singular. The lexicographical information (see n. 1 below) perhaps derives from commentary to Herodotos 7.38 (web address 1), where we find one of the only other non-lexicographical attestations of this form. See also mu 475, where the plural form is glossed and ascribed specifically to Herodotos.
- 1cf. Hesychius mu669, mu670; ps.-Herodian 213; Glossae in Herodotum mu3; Synagoge, Photius mu228 Theodoridis, and ps.-Zonaras 1339. Adler also cites the unpublished Ambrosian Lexicon (305). Cf. delta 461 gloss; kappa 1485 end. ↩
- 2Aelian fr. 72 Hercher, 75 Domingo-Forasté; an abridgment of part of a passage quoted at greater length at eta 350. ↩
- 3Eunapius fr.94 FHG (4.54), 88 Blockley (1983: 124-5). Kuster preferred
e)tw=n (genitive plural of 'kinsmen') overe)qw=n ('customs'). ↩ - 4Here the Suda uses the feminine accusative singular
i(e/reian , referring back togunai=ka/ tina in the prior fragment. ↩ - 5Aelian fr. 119 Hercher (122 Domingo-Forasté). On Nero (Roman emperor 54-68 CE) cf. nu 254 and OCD(4) s.v. This passage concerns Nero's sojourn in Greece, beginning in September 66, where he performed in musical concerts and the Olympic Games, and pronounced the freedom of the Greeks in November 67. The emperor had delegated control over Roman affairs to his freedman Helius; cf. Suetonius, Nero 22-24 (web address 2); Cassius Dio 62.12; Henderson (1908): 382ff; Champlin (2003): 53-61. ↩
References
D. Domingo-Forasté, ed., Claudii Aeliani: Epistulae et Fragmenta, Teubner: Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1994
R.C. Blockley, The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire: Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus, vol. II, Liverpool: Francis Cairns, 1983
E. Champlin, Nero. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003
B.W. Henderson, The Life and Principate of the Emperor Nero, London: Methuen, 1908
R.C. Blockley, The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire: Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus, vol. II, Liverpool: Francis Cairns, 1983
E. Champlin, Nero. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003
B.W. Henderson, The Life and Principate of the Emperor Nero, London: Methuen, 1908
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from3 entries
- η350Ἡμίσεια Ἥμισυ παντόςhalf*(/hmisu panto/s ["half than whole"]. Hesiod [writes]: "fools, they do not even know how much more half [is] than the whole." "It is like this: there were two brothers. As one of them died and left an orphan child, he…
- μ472Μελεδαίνεινto care for, to attend upon[Meaning] to take care of. Herodotus [writes] "he left behind the sick men, [ordering] the cities both to care for them and to nourish them."
- μ475Μελεδωνοίcaretakers, managers[Meaning] administrators; curators in Herodotus, those who have been put in charge. Just like those [in charge] of the vineyard in the Gospel.
Neighbouring entries
Revision history7 revisions · last 17 May 2016
- coding etc. — David Whitehead
- Revised — David Whitehead
- cosmetics — David Whitehead
- tweaks, augmented notes, added bibliography, raised status — William Hutton
- tweaks and cosmetics — David Whitehead
- corrected my own typo — William Hutton
- tweaked hw and tr. augmented notes, raised status — William Hutton
- Translated — Ronald Allen